Jungle Fever: Smoking Paraphernalia & Legal Highs

Whilst smoking accessories such as glass ashtrays, spinning ashtrays and Rizla rolling machine tins can be highly collectable, bongs can be works of art in themselves. Ever since its invention during China’s Ming Dynasty, the bong has been divided into two types, the plain bong for the ordinary folk, and elaborate jewelled designs for the nobility. In our more egalitarian age, imaginative designs are well within the reach of ordinary people.

Glass Bongs

These are usually a normal shaped bong with a design etched onto the glass.  The cannabis leaf is the most popular design, but for those who prefer the legal high route, there are also musical instruments, machine guns and skulls for sale.  For a more colourful glass bong, Roor Pipes have teamed up with artist Martin Birzle to create a gorgeous painted design in red, yellow, orange and black.

Ceramic Bongs

Ceramic bongs let designers really go to town.  They can come in all sorts of shapes, from Yoda to Flipper the dolphin.  Death seems to be a common theme, with bongs in the shape of death’s heads and the Grim Reaper, or pistols that you can put in your mouth to make it look as though you are playing Russian roulette.  I am not sure what this says about the psychology of those who use them, but at least nobody could accuse the makers of these bongs of downplaying the health risks that even the smoking of herbal highs can carry.  However, for a more cheerful design, you could always choose a cute frog or dinosaur instead.  There seems to be no limit to the creativity of these designs.

The bong or a water pipe is a filtration device designed to help smoke a variety of substances, including legal highs such as herbal blends and tobacco. The bong is similar in principle to a hookah pipe, but is easier to carry around and stores away in smaller places. It has been used as a means of smoking substances for thousands of years and has remained relatively unchanged. Bongs and their counterparts are used all over the world, but particularly in Thailand, Laos and Africa.

The bong allows the user inhale cool smoke, which is safer for the lungs and mouth and generally more pleasant. The vapours travel through the water and the user inhales it from the mouthpiece at the top of the device. Studies suggest that some of the mind-altering properties are lost in this process, so the user will have to inhale more smoke in order to have the same effect. This may result in having to use more of the legal substance than regular tobacco smoking.

There are many different types and sizes of bongs available on the market today and buying them is simple, especially online. In many shops bongs are classed as water pipes or smoking pipes, because it is illegal to sell any paraphernalia that is linked to illegal drugs, which is often the case with the bong. However, it is perfectly legal to buy and own a bong, as long as you are not smoking illegal substances. Other devices that are similar include Roor Pipes and chillums, which are also legal to use.

There are many different types of bongs out there, but perhaps none as special and individual as Roor pipes. The world-renowned German glass blower, Martin Birzle and his team specialise in perfecting 2mm-7mm thick glass bongs. Each individual bong has the signature mark of the creator to ensure its authenticity.

Roor pipes can be bought over the internet and in specialist shops, but always keep an eye out for the signature mark. They start at around £80-£90 which may sound somewhat expensive, but their quality and usability is of a very high standard.

How to Use Your Roor Pipe

•    Make sure your pipe is clean, dry and free of any dust or other particles that may be harmful if inhaled. Your Roor pipe will only give you the optimum experience if it is properly maintained and looked after.

•    Test the optimum water level by heating some water in a clean and substance free pipe. You do not want too little water, which will hinder the proper vaporisation of your tobacco or other legal high. Similarly, you do not want too much, as it might bubble up and touch your mouth, which can be dangerous and painful.

•    Ensure that whatever you are smoking is correctly spread out in the bowl of the pipe, so that vaporisation occurs consistently and evenly.

•    When you are ready to start smoking, light the substance and inhale deeply. Make sure that you remove the bowl so that the pipe is only filled with enough smoke that you can empty in one motion.

In the world of recreational drug use there is a great amount of jargon, just as there is for any other hobby from fishing to cricketing to chess.  Members of a particular group feel more comfortable and united if they share a specialised vocabulary that means little if nothing outside the group, as exemplified by such terms as ‘bong’ and ‘blunt’, along with much other specialised vocabulary.  The Volcano Vaporizer, for those not in the know, might be some fiendish device created by Fu Manchu for all the average man in the street knows, but to the aficionado it means something quite specific.

Bongs, for example, have a lot in common with the more familiar hookah pipe, used widely in the Middle East to draw smoke from various plant materials through often scented water and into the lungs of the user.  The water acts as a filter to remove the more harmful elements in the smoke, and it also cools the smoke down to promote a more pleasant experience.

Bongs have their origin in Thailand, where the original name derives from the bamboo implements that used to be used for drawing the smoke up.  Nowadays they are made from all sorts of materials, with glass often being considered the material of choice because it contributes nothing to the smoke as wood does.  There are specialists in these and other pieces of legal high equipment with sites on the internet which sell not only the kit but the plant products as well. 

The act of inhaling the smoke from burnt plant material goes back thousands of years and seems to have been around since the very earliest times.  Like most other inventions it was probably discovered accidentally and soon became standard practice, and today’s pipe smoker is the inheritor of a tradition almost as old as walking upright.

To primitive man, as also to the remote tribes of today, the necessary materials were all around them in the form of natural tubes such as bamboo and other plants for the equipment, herbs for the ingredients and flint-generated fire for the fuel.  Fortunately, with the exponential growth of the internet, indulging in a legal high is easy even for those of us who have lost the knowledge of how to hollow out a cane or create a fire.

Bongs are available in a variety of materials, from acrylic and aluminium to glass and wood, although glass is preferable for an uncontaminated smoke.  The herbal mixture is simply heated until smoke is given off and then water is used to filter the smoke and remove toxins before it is sucked up.  The mild hallucinogens in the smoke are also partially filtered out as well, so bongs are not ideal for a strong hit, and are more comparable to a few pints down at the local pub.

Vaporizers deliver a harder punch as they don’t actually ignite the herbs but only heat them up, and the vapour contains no harmful elements, which is why this equipment is used in aromatherapy.

Bongs, those essentially simple pieces of equipment used to filter smoke from herbs and deliver it through the mouth for a legal high, have their origin in the Far East, in Thailand and Laos.

The term itself has been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years to describe bamboo worked into a tubular structure, and nowadays they are being manufactured by modern methods and using synthetic materials to bring the joys of a safe and legal high to a growing number of health conscious smokers.  They are available at many sites on the web and also in the high street, and are a much safer way of inhaling plant derivatives than smoking cigarettes or blunts.

Water is used in the bong to filter harmful substances present in the smoke from burning herbs of various kinds, and it also cools the smoke in the process.  A number of aromatic substances such as rose petals and different types of natural oils can be added to adjust the effect of the filtered smoke and induce a sensation of calm and wellbeing.

For serious bong users, glass bongs are especially attractive because, although bamboo is the traditional material favoured by enthusiastic purists, it contributes its own unwanted residues to the smoke.  Glass contributes nothing, and therefore the smoke contains only toxins which are filtered away and the active substances that induce the desired effect.

There are all sorts of models available, from portable bongs to multi-pipe bongs that are used by a group of people in a social setting.

For some people, the term ‘getting high’ conjures up images of needles and broken humanity, and it is easy to forget that getting high is a national and perfectly normal preoccupation, as you can witness in any pub at any time.  Although it probably isn’t the term that would be chosen by the average drinker, it is arguable when you see ordinary folks staggering in the street and collapsing in the gutter on Saturday nights that getting high pleasantly on traditional herbal essences is preferable to getting legless at the local pub.

It is also a lot healthier.  Forget about lung and throat cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.  The equipment used to get legally high on plant products, such as bongs and vaporisers, is designed to filter out the harmful toxins in the smoke.  In the case of bongs this is achieved through the use of water, which cools the smoke as well as filtering out the harmful elements; with vaporisers, the plant material doesn’t quite combust but gives off an aromatic vapour, so vaporisers are generally considered the safest method of inhaling plant products.

Although vaporisers are a modern innovation, now widely used in aromatherapy, bongs have a long history, and in fact the term ‘bong’ comes from Thailand where it is used to describe any tubular bamboo object.  The materials may have changed, with acrylics, aluminium and glass now used in their manufacture, but the principle remains the same.

You don’t have to be a desperate criminal or a spaced-out delinquent to get high these days, and it is a common misconception that the people looking for a quick high are shady characters or the dregs of society skulking in stairwells and back alleys, desperate for a “fix”.

In truth, many perfectly respectable and useful members of society, from politicians to bankers to people just looking to relax after a hard day’s work, like to enjoy some natural herbs occasionally and enjoy a legal high either alone or with like-minded friends.  Many people are now discovering the benefits of inhaling filtered vapours from natural plant products rather than killing themselves with alcohol and tobacco, so there are even definite health benefits to inhaling these natural derivatives.

Natural herbs have been used in a multitude of combinations down the centuries and even millennia to enhance a sense of well-being.  Nowadays, modern technology is being used to reproduce and optimise ancient and traditional pieces of equipment to bring the same soothing effect to the pressurised victims of Western capitalism and help them restore some balance into their dysfunctional and alienated lives.

Bongs are a typical example of the sort of kit we are talking about, and one of the simplest methods of getting mild natural hallucinogens to the brain in as healthy a way as possible.  Water is used to cool the smoke produced by heating the herbs, and natural oils and aromatics are used to enhance the experience and prolong the effect.  

Bongs come in many shapes and sizes, from the simplest and cheapest affairs made from wood or acrylic to the expensive and collectable Roor bongs, the royalty of the bong world.  But not everyone is preoccupied with status and gnawed at by a need to display wealth and success so conspicuously, and where the main concern is a decent hit there is plenty of choice out there.

Small portable bongs are great for the traveller, or for anyone on the go who wants a small, simple device that fits easily into the pocket and can be whipped out at a moment’s notice.

Whatever type of bong you go for it will work in essentially the same way.  Water is used to filter harmful particles out of the smoke given off by burning herbs in the bowl, before it gets to the user’s mouth.  If this sound like a hubble-bubble, that’s right, but the bong is much older than the hookah.  It derives its name from the Thai word for any tubular structure, and was in fact invented in the Far East centuries ago.  The hookah first made its appearance in the Middle East much later, but can still be seen all across the region.

Wood was traditionally used to make bongs, but metal, glass and acrylic are popular alternatives, especially glass as it is easier to clean and doesn’t contaminate the smoke in the way that wood and acrylic do.

The water is frequently laced with aromatic spices to heighten the effect of wellbeing in the user.

Smoking bongs – or water pipes – was very popular in past centuries, and it has again risen to prominence in Western societies in the last few years as a way to enjoy legal highs.  However, it may take you a few times using a bong to actually get the hang of it.  This is because you may not be inhaling the legal high substance properly and holding it in your lungs long enough to experience the desired sensation. 

What is a Bong?

A bong is a particular type of glass, ceramic or acrylic device used for smoking an herbal mixture.  Unlike other pipes, a bong is usually cooled down with water, which is what makes enjoying a legal high using a bong a much smoother, more pleasant smoke.

How Does a Bong Work?

All bongs work in a similar way.  The stem of a bong is shaped like a bowl with a tube attached to it.  The cylindrical end of the stem is connected to the bong chamber.  Water goes inside the bong chamber, through which you smoke the legal high, sealing your lips around the top of the chamber so that smoke does not escape.

You put water in the chamber of the bong and the smoke from your legal high rises up through this water.  You smoke it by sealing your mouth around the top of the chamber and inhaling.  Remember not to pack the bong bowl with too much of the legal high substance, so that you have room to inhale air through the mixture.